Rush Named to Wooden All-American Team

For the second-straight year, junior Brandon Rush was honored as one of the 10 members of the John R. Wooden Award All-American team as announced by Wooden Award Chairman Richard “Duke” Llewellyn at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Tuesday. <?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>

Rush earned the same honor in 2007 and was on the Preseason and Mid-Season Wooden Award list this season. Rush currently leads the Final Four-bound Jayhawks in scoring at 13.1 points per game and three-pointers with 78. He also ranks first on the team in free-throw percentage and third in rebounds.

Rush will be joined at the Final Four by finalists Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, UCLA’s Kevin Love and Memphis’ Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose. Rounding out the 10-player All-American team are D.J. Augustin of Texas, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Stephen Curry of Davidson, Luke Harangody of Notre Dame, and Tennessee’s Chris Lofton.

The All-American team features one senior, Lofton, three juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. The Big 12 tops the list with three Wooden All-Americans, followed by Conference <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>USA with two. The Pac-10, ACC, Southern, Big East and SEC each have one representative.

A panel of more than 1,000 voters, comprised of sports media members and college basketball experts from around the nation, had until yesterday to cast their votes. Voters selected 10 players from the 24 athletes listed on the ballot and ranked them from 1 to 10. Voters were asked to take into account performance during the regular season and postseason through games last Sunday, as well as a player’s character and academic performance, both essential components of an outstanding player in the eyes of Coach John Wooden. All players on the Wooden All-American team were certified by their schools as maintaining a 2.0 GPA at their current school.

The five finalists for the Wooden Award will be invited to Los Angeles for the Wooden Award Gala, to be held April 11, 2008 at the Los Angeles Downtown Sheraton Hotel. The five finalists are Augustin, Beasley, Curry, Hansbrough and Love.

The 2008 Award ceremony, which will include the presentation of the Men’s and Women’s Wooden Award winners, the Wooden Award All-American Teams, and the Legends of Coaching Award to Pat Summitt of the University of Tennessee, will be hosted by The Los Angeles Athletic Club at the Sheraton Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles on Friday, April 11th. The final vote tally will be released that night as well. The top five male and female finalists will be invited to Los Angeles for the awards ceremony and will receive a contribution from The Los Angeles Athletic Club for his or her university’s general scholarship fund. The Women’s Wooden All-American team will be announced tomorrow, Wednesday, April 2nd.

About the John R. Wooden Award

Created in 1976, the John R. Wooden Award is the most prestigious individual honor in college basketball. It is bestowed upon the nation’s best player at an institution of higher education who has proven to his or her university that he or she is making progress toward graduation and maintaining a cumulative 2.0 GPA. Previous winners include Larry Bird (’79), Michael Jordan (’84), and Tim Duncan (’97) and last year’s recipients, Kevin Durant of Texas and returning player Candace Parker of Tennessee.

Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed nearly one million dollars to universities’ general scholarship funds in the names of the All-American recipients and has sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award’s name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympic athletes and the All-American players, takes place at The Los Angeles Athletic Club on the Friday of the John R. Wooden Award weekend.

Tickets for the Wooden Award Gala are on sale now and may be obtained by calling The Los Angeles Athletic Club at (213) 630-5291. For up to date information on all of the Wooden Award candidates, please go to www.woodenaward.com.